The competition watchdog has dropped May 27 as the date to announce the outcome of its findings looking at how the proposed Aon-Willis Towers Watson merger may affect commercial insurance broking in Australia.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says it will set a new deadline in due course for its decision following consultation on a Statement of Issues that was released in February. It is seeking feedback from stakeholders on a range of concerns it has about the proposed union of the two broking giants.

“ACCC [is] awaiting further information from the parties,” the competition regulator says on its website. “Former provisional date for announcement of findings - May 27 2021 - delayed.”

The ACCC delay comes after the European Commission pushed back its May 10 deadline to July 27 for a decision on the all-stock transaction, which was valued at $US30 billion ($38.6 billion) when it was announced in March last year.

The commission opened an in-depth investigation on December 21 to assess whether the deal would lead to less choice and higher prices for European customers in the commercial brokerage market and in reinsurance.

If passed by regulators, the merger would create the largest insurance broker.

The ACCC, when it published the Statement of Issues, said the planned combination could lead to adverse outcomes including higher charges for businesses that need specialised risk service from brokers.

It also says the tie-up is also likely to lead to a less competitive commercial insurance broking sector, leaving the market controlled by the merged entity and Marsh.

The Statement of Issues was published after a probe was launched in October by the regulator to look into the merger.

A Statement of Issues is not a final decision about a proposed merger, but outlines the ACCC’s preliminary views and identifies further lines of inquiry.